The present invention generally relates to microswitches, more particularly to a microswitch that provides several operating directions for opening/closing an electric switch.
In view of the low precision for manufacturing and assembling xe2x80x9csmall switchesxe2x80x9d as disclosed in the R.O.C. Patent Publication No. 517254 and xe2x80x9clever switchesxe2x80x9d as disclosed in the U.S. Publication No. 2002/0148714, the inventor of this invention had made improvements over the foregoing prior arts and filed a R.O.C. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cMicroswitch (II)xe2x80x9d. Such patent application granted and published with Publication No. 562228 discloses an easy-to-assemble and easy-to-manufacture microswitch without changing the dimensions of existing products or requiring a complicated manufacturing process or strict precision control. The easy-to-assemble and easy-to-manufacture microswitch comprises a connecting section disposed between first and second conductive sections of a resilient component used for opening/closing an electric switch, a fixing section coupled to the resilient component and disposed in an accommodating groove of a press button at the position corresponding to the connecting section, so that the first conductive section of the resilient component is kept constantly in contact with a first contact section of the first conductive terminal extended into a chamber, and the second conductive section is moved downward by a force produced by pressing on a pressing section of the press button at a position corresponding to the contact of the press button with a second contact section of the second conductive terminal being extended to the chamber.
Although the switch according to this patent has solved the precision problem, it still cannot meet the strict requirements of the microswitch such as the distance required for the signal connection and the quick restoration of the press button after being released mainly due to the parallel arrangement of the first and second conductive terminals disposed in the chamber of the main body. Therefore, the distance required for signal connections is limited by the provided space. In addition, the distance between the first and second conductive sections of the resilient component is short, as shown in the drawings of the patent specification. Thus the compression produced by the press button is limited, and the press button cannot quickly resume its original position after being released.
The primary objective of the present invention is to overcome and avoid the foregoing shortcomings. This invention provides a microswitch that is easy to assemble and manufacture. The microswitch of this invention constantly keeps the first conductive section of a resilient component for opening/closing an electrical switch in contact with the first conductive terminal in the main body of the microswitch, and houses a plate-shaped second conductive section with a contact surface inside the main body of the microswitch, so that the second conductive section of the resilient component is driven by a press button on the contact surface of the second conductive terminal to preset the signal from an initial connection state to a final connection state in order to increase the distance required for controlling the signal connection and allow the resilient component to have an effective deformation and provide the best resilience of the press button.